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Day 11  Tuesday 4^th May 2004

Macclesfield to Clayton-le-Dale (north of Blackburn )

You must be tiring of me saying that I had another cooked breakfast.  I wasn’t tiring of them!  Mike was very appreciative of the change of routine as well – his normal breakfast is a quick cereal job like mine would be at home.  You must also be tiring of me saying that most of the rain had fallen in the night and the forecast for the day, though not dry, was showery.  I have been so lucky so far on the trip.  I think I have had more problems from the cold.  The number of times I have worn my cycle cape has been minimal.

During the morning there were about three sharp showers – the first two only lasted for about 5 to 10 minutes, the third took a little longer to pass.  After sheltering for a while under a tree I decided to don my cape.  I didn’t have to wear it for long.

The route today bypassed Manchester to the west through quite a few small towns but at the same time passing through quite a lot of open country.  The ride was flat as I was now in the Cheshire plain.  As you might expect, I had to cross a number of major roads.  I think I made about six crossings of various motorways in the area.  The roads that I was using were, in the main, fairly quiet – even a 5 mile section of the A6 turned out not to be too bad.

The first unusual sight was the toll bridge crossing the Manchester Ship canal near Warburton.  I think it said Cars 25p return, 12p single – but why would people buy returns?  Bikes were free.  At 12.30 the fourth shower threatened so as a pub was handy I decided to have a lunch break.  I had taken sandwiches but these could be kept in reserve for later.  I ordered a Thai Chicken Curry with rice and Naan bread.  It was both very hot and very hot!

The rain had stopped by the time I had finished eating and the miles had flown by this morning.  I had already gone 38 miles and it was only lunchtime.  The wind – although light – had been behind me and the cycling had been flat.  I had the whole afternoon to do another 20 or so miles.  The CTC route led me to the outskirts of Chorley and would have bypassed the centre of the town if I hadn’t deviated off route to see what was there.  Not much really, so I was probably going to find it hard to find a postcard of the area.  Postcards are easy to find in the tourist areas but when you come to just another town without a reputation for something then it is more difficult.  But Chorley is famous for something I was to find – famous for Chorley Cakes.  What cakes? – Chorley Cakes.  I found a postcard with the recipe on it but I couldn’t find a bread shop that would sell me one (or even two).  I will have to try the recipe on the card!

Another very large black cloud was approaching so I headed for the bus station which I had noticed on the way in.  It threw it down for ½ hour including hailstones but I was dry.  I then headed off in the direction of Mellor which is north of Blackburn, following for the most part the Lancashire Cycleway.  This was not mentioned in my literature so it is perhaps a fairly recent addition as far as signposts are concerned – it would have made the directions much easier to say follow the Lancashire Cycle Route.  I crossed over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal just outside Wheelton at the Top Lock.  The terrain was hillier now but the scenery was more interesting with wooded glades and streams and bluebells. I finally got to the B&B at Clayton-le-Dale just after 5pm having cycled the last four miles in the cape.  This has been the wettest day so far but I still don’t rank it as a wet day.  But after all said and done – it was Manchester – and it always rains in Manchester.  The storms have been fairly brief apart from the one at Chorley and the rain at the end of the day.  I offloaded my bike and make myself at home.  Out come by sandwiches in the bedroom and time for tea.  Tomorrow I take to the dales – it will be hilly.

Today I have cycled 61.1 miles at an average of 10.0 mph.  My total mileage to date is 546.9.

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